Ready, Set... Ready?

I am starting this blog hoping not to continue it for very long. In fact, the reason I didn't start it in the first place was that I didn't plan to be unemployed for any sort of duration, so of course I wouldn't have the time to commit to it.

I also figured if I were to blog I would end up publicly revealing that I have opinions which I am not supposed to have being a journalist looking for work. As well as publicly revealing other weaknesses or un-self-confident-appearing things that don't help one find a job, like that being unemployed is stressful, depressing and hurts one's self-confidence.

But a writer is what I am, my sister thinks it might help other members of the swollen ranks of America's jobless if I share my experiences, and I have now been on the unemployment roll for 13 weeks with no end in sight.

That's long enough for the NYSDOL to send me a letter scheduling me for the mandatory "Ready Set Go" Re-employment Services Workshop, which I attended yesterday afternoon along with 20-some other Oswego County job seekers.

The instructor (not sure what to call him, but picture a classroom) said that when the workshop was begun several years ago, he named it "Ready Set Go" because it was an efficient summary of local employers and professions that were hiring that could turn folks loose on appropriate openings in a hurry. But at the moment, he admitted, nobody is hiring.

Still, he went through his Smartboard slides, pointing out here and there when something was out of date-- an expected plant expansion that didn't, a newly-opened business that's no longer, and actually several restaurants recently closed for nonpayment of taxes.

At the end we all had to sign a form showing we had attended and choosing 3 other workshops we would like to be mandated to attend in order of preference by writing 1, 2 or 3 in the boxes next to the titles-- even though I had to do this when I first registered for unemployment and I know for sure I didn't select anything with as basic-sounding a name as Ready Set Go as any of my choices 12 weeks ago. Generating the depressing vision of being scheduled for a resume writing workshop in another 8 weeks or so.

Coincidentally, in the meantime I had already signed up for an overview of funding opportunities for re-training, tuition, etc. That session was yesterday morning, and it was interesting that they emphasized that their funding comes from DSS not DOL. After it we got to meet individually with a counselor, who told me that it was very unlikely with my college degrees and transferable skills that they would pay to help send me to tractor-trailer school even though that has traditionally been a dependable occupation in our county. I told her I expected as much since I had recently gotten a new puppy who turns out to get car-sick on any ride longer than 10 minutes so I figured God was trying to tell me something.

She offered me a password for a free skills-proving and -upgrading website called Metrix Learning and I'm going to give that a tryout. Will let you know how it goes.

PS, my other "trying-to-guess-what-God's-trying-to-tell-me" message I have taken so far from this experience is that it's really, really, really time to quit smoking because no matter how addicted I am, I can't justify spending any money on smokes while worrying about paying the mortgage. I am now on day 24 of no smoking.